The present invention relates to an automatic take-up spool or reel for engaging and retaining the free end of a web or roll of paper or other material, the latter comprising a journal tape on which data is recorded. In present-day data terminal and electronic cash register devices, a journal tape is employed to record thereon the data associated with each transaction carried out by the terminal or the cash register. With the development of integrated circuits and the like, the terminal devices have become more compact and streamlined to the point that the space available for the take-up spool for the journal tape is very limited. This condition has produced lengthy down time of the terminal to install a new roll of tape and to engage the tape with the take-up spool. When this operation occurs during the rush hour in a supermarket, for instance, the delay is a serious limitation to the use of such a terminal in a checkout environment. In order to overcome this problem, cassette-type devices have been developed which contain the paper tape, but the amount of tape that can be incorporated in a cassette is very limited, requiring more frequent interruptions of the terminal operation for changing the cassette together with being more costly.
It is well-known in the web-handling art to provide reel constructions which allow for the automatic engagement of the tape by the reel. Thus, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,414,206, triangular-shaped guide members mounted on one flange of a tape reel coact with a pair of spring-loaded fingers to engage holes in the tape for anchoring the tape to the reel.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,378,212, 3,265,318 and 3,640,483, magnetic tape reels are disclosed which include teeth for engaging the manually-inserted tape between oppositely-located tooth members and one flange of the reel. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,395,870, 3,521,829 and 3,837,596, the end of the tape is positioned between the hub and a member having a friction surface for engaging and holding the tape against the hub. While the reel construction of the cited patents perform an automatic take-up operation, their application to the take-up spool in a data terminal device would be very costly, and in most instances would require access to the side of the reel which is not available in the present embodiment.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new and improved low-cost automatic take-up spool. It is a further object to provide a take-up spool which will automatically engage the moving end of a strip of material. It is another object of this invention to provide an automatic take-up spool which accommodates various widths webs or strips of material.